Help I don't like cleaning

I like cleaning but only when I'm on my own. I don't like having anyone with me and I hate being helped.

I have tracked the progress of the bedroom ceiling spider (he's usually there somewhere) over the last couple of weeks and he was last seen heading down the wall behind the wardrobe. I did wipe round the window frames in the bedroom the other day, though. I found a chrysalis tightly tucked into the corner, but I did remove it and gave it to the birds to eat. I'm not that partial to large moths blundering about when I'm trying to read in the small hours!

I'm with you RockNanny - no-one on their deathbed is going to bemoan the fact that they didn't do enough cleaning I have mastered the art of dashing round my tiny cottage with duster, vac and air freshener when visitors are due. The smell of newly baked bread, coffee and welcoming meals distracts them from the dust on the surfaces I have missed.

Now I've got this new Dyson to try out, my slovenly ways are reinforced - it has 20 minutes charge on it, and I can do the sitting room, stairs and bathroom with 10 minutes of it!

I grew up in a very untidy house (my Mother's house is still a tip) and there was no way I was going to live like that.

I get a lot of satisfaction from having a clean, tidy, everything in it's place house.

We moved 5 months ago to a "wreck" which needed replumbing, re-wiring, an extension, new bathroom fittings, completely new kitchen etc. etc. So have lived in a building site. We did the main bedroom first (which has to to double up as the office space) and I have kept that really nice.

The end is in sight and I cannot wait to get this house sparkling squeeky clean.

I have just read through this thread and chuckled so many times : 'Go out more', hairdryer hoovering, 'Lady Muck' . I am soooo glad I joined these forums !

I actually do like a tidy house but always feel inadequate because I 'get behind' with the cleaning. I try to find excuses for myself but the truth is I hate it and just thinking about it saps my energy. I'm even worse since I found the internet a few years ago. My pc calls to me like a siren . My working hours were reduced by half (not my choice ) last April but I still don't do any more housework than when I was full-time. I feel so guilty but clearly not enough to do anything about it . My DD, a Virgo, is always fretting about having a clean and tidy house. It bugs me when I want to spend time with her on a weekend and she tells me she is too busy cleaning up . When she was younger and lived with me she used to have an untidy bedroom. Somehow it always became so important to her to tidy up when she was supposed to be doing her homework or revising. Myself, I usually have a clean and tidy up when I am expecting company, even hiding papers in drawers . But spring cleaning? Pfft!

Quentin Crisp never did dusting, he said that after two years the dust didn't get any thicker. I'm about to find out if this is true on my very high shelf that houses my collection of pierced edge plates. I can only see the dust when ascending the stairs in my stair lift.(Or descending ,of course)

I hate cleaning,but it does depress me when the dust pile up. I grit my teeth and do it all in one day,then the rest of the week is mine to do what I want.

I remember feeling very incompetent when I had a friend who lived in a lovely old farmhouse which was kept immaculate in spite of her having two small boys, a dog, 2 cats and goats and chickens to look after. It was several years before I discovered that she'd got an Au Pair! I'd just never seen the girl. I now have one neighbour who sweeps the path outside our houses and another who mows the plot of grass the other side of the path in spite of the Council mowing it regularly. Fortunately the people next door are reasonably untidy so we don't stick out too much!

Kitty My DH keeps such stuff also. I need to have a weed out when he is not at home.

Well done when. I will get DH to read this thread. It drives me demented each time I go to look for a guarantee or something and have to wade through guarantees for stuff that 'died' years ago. Though I would be in real trouble if I threw any of it out. You never know when you might need to know how much the washing machine we bought in 1989 cost.

I collect small pieces of silver (teaspoons etc) which are lovely but a b****r to clean. So, my problem is - do I clean it all, to add to the general shine, or put Christmas cards in front of it!

This thread has motivated me to have a good sort out before Christmas, so today I've filled some confidential waste bags with every surplus document and piece of paper I no longer need. It took me 3 hours, and now all I have left are the utilities, insurances, guarantees, car docs etc that I need to keep, which fit into one large box and a filing wallet. There isn't a thing left from work or studies, other than my qualifications. You have no idea how liberating it feels! The bags will be collected and shredded in a few days, rather than me doing it over the course of weeks.

Tomorrow morning, I'm dropping off lots of bric-a-brac for the doggy charity car boot sale, and all of a sudden I find my house is tidied. Didn't hurt at all. I recommend it.

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CHEELU I think your use of -- confused matters. If you use them before and after a phrase or word it crosses them through! See below for other ways your text can be changed.
I hope you are enjoying Gransnet - welcome!

50 foot boat? Wonderful. Sail or motor?

If I lived near I would do it for you. I love housework and clearing out " stuff" as I call it.
And I do have a life. I have a Motohome that goes to Spain every winter and a 50ft boat.

I don't mind cleaning itself. I just have so many more interesting things to do.

I concentrate on hygiene - kitchen worktops and cloths, bathroom - loo and hand washing, personal - the rest is irrelevant to me.

I don't iron because I buy non-iron things and hang them up as they come out of the washing machine. If it's something very special, I'll iron it.

I don't clean windows very often - no point.

Mess? Everywhere. Toys, books, magazines, washing on the clothes horse, muddy footprints in the kitchen, shopping on the worktop, post on the table, washing up here, there and everywhere. Discarded shoes, socks, juice beakers, school bags and biscuit crumbs - heaven knows what's under the sofa.

But I've plenty of time to read stories, play monsters, go to the park or help with homework. Happy family.

Oh dear...."You deserve to live in a home that hugs you!"
I think mine would rather trip me up....

CHEELU is your other name Fly Lady? fly lady

In answer to Ana Well its all to do with our up bringing this is what we were shown My sons are in their twenties and they have a very different take on things and to be fair my husband does housework a swell, he particularly hates it when there are dishes in the sink that need doing and so he will do that but hey we all have our good and bad I'll bet your husband was a good provider

just posted on this foram but when submitted it had lines going through it have no idea what that is about--I am new so perhaps I have done something wrong

Oh yes, DH uses that line a lot too if I happen to wonder, accidentally out loud, why it always seems to be me who does the cooking and cleaning. He says things like "I'll let you service the boiler then, shall I?" which he does once a year if he gets round to it!

Hi I know what you mean when you say you dont like cleaning--I don't mind it too much because it feels soo nice when its all done but it can become over whelming sometimes and my trick when that happens is I change my attitude and thinking which is--I am entering this room that needs cleaning I am starting from the left hand side of the room and working my way around it and when I get fed up of it I shall stop....and it works every time..The worse thing for me is when I make loads of effort to clean up and it is not respected ie someone comes in and messes it up ha ha!!

MEN!!!!!!!!!

I just read your post out to DH Daisy. He muttered something about teaching me to clean the car! As if he has to do that every day!